When I Realized ‘Normal’ Is Just a Dial on the Washing Machine

For the longest time, I remember wishing I could be just like everyone else. Wishing I could play sports and just to be able to conquer the rock climbing wall in elementary school. I didn’t realize I had cerebral palsy then… let me rephrase that, I didn’t accept that I had cerebral palsy then. I knew I was different, but I still had that hope that one day I would be able to be “normal.”

It wasn’t until I was put back on my IEP in eighth grade that I realized that I needed some help. They put me on my IEP because it seemed has if my muscles were getting in the way off my education, so they put me in a school-based therapy program.

The next year I started high school and was able to see that in life, nobody is “normal.” Everyone has their differences. Some people are short, while others are tall. Some are thin, while others are not. Normal is just a dial on a washing machine.

The moral of this story is that it’s OK to me different. We shouldn’t have to hide who we are just to make other comfortable. And I have learned to embrace my differences.

The Mighty is asking the following: Can you describe the moment someone changed the way you think about a disability or disease? If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to [email protected]ghty.com. Please include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio.

Miranda has spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy on her right side, due to a stroke in infancy. At the age of 6, she had a blood clot to the brain and another stroke — they said she wouldn’t live. Now at the age of 16, she’s surpassed all expectations. She’s in mainstream classes, plus an AP English class, but receives help from her IEP. .